


Older But No Wiser

by Anonymous



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Brotherly Angst, Extremely Slow Burn, M/M, Minor Violence, Post-Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, They're a work in progress, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29271873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Jounouchi winds up at the Kaiba mansion due to unfortunate circumstances.  Kaiba's just as weird as ever.  But maybe after all these years, they're the right kind of weird for each other.
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto, Kaiba Mokuba & Kaiba Seto
Collections: Five Figure Fanwork Exchange 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LuciferxDamien](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuciferxDamien/gifts).



He was way in over his head now.

Jounouchi had thought that he’d gone too far when he stole the car supposedly containing the money his boss was owed. When it turned out instead it had a baby in it, Jounouchi panicked. He’d needed a safe place to dump the car and still evade the cops. The baby had woken up, as if it knew that this ride was not one of the safe ones it should be taking, and started crying, sending Jounouchi into… well, ultra-panic, if that was possible. It wasn’t until he found himself driving by the Kaiba mansion that his brain finally snapped back into gear.

Car abandoned by the gate? Check.

Surprisingly not electrified fence climbed? Check.

Tugging on the mansion’s doors and having them actually open? …Check?

He’d worry about it later, Jounouchi figured, as two cars pulled up behind the stolen car. He ran into a salon and hid behind a sofa. For nearly ten minutes, he stayed huddled there, not hearing anyone come through the hall or anyone knock on the front doors. Another five or so minutes later, he sat up on his knees, looking just above the back of the sofa.

There was a shadow in the doorway.

Jounouchi ducked.

“While I could have expected the police eventually looking for you, I never thought I’d be involved myself.”

Jounouchi cringed. Kaiba. Why couldn’t Mokuba have been the one to find him?

He sat up again, looking up at Kaiba. “H-hey….”

“Would you like to explain, or should I call them back?” Kaiba asked, leaning against the door frame.

“You sent the cops away?”

Kaiba’s mouth turned up. “Generous of me, wasn’t it?”

Jounouchi stood slowly. “Well, uh, if you don’t mind, I’ll just be, uh, you know… leaving.”

Kaiba cocked his head. “So soon? I haven’t heard from you in years and now you just want to leave?”

“Cut the bullshit, Kaiba. I mean, thanks for not ratting me out to the cops and all,” Jounouchi said. “But it’s not like we’ve ever been friends.”

Kaiba laughed, but said nothing.

Jounouchi was getting bad vibes from this whole thing. He didn’t like the way Kaiba was looking at him. Still, there was only one way out, so he started towards Kaiba and the exit. “You should learn to lock your doors.”

Kaiba waited until Jounouchi was about a foot away, then moved to block the doorway completely. “Do you really think I just leave this place open for anyone?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, if I hadn’t let you in, you’d still be out there for the police to find.”

OK, yeah, this was getting too weird.

“Well, thanks, Kaiba, but I gotta go,” Jounouchi said, trying to push past him. Kaiba grabbed his arm and held him still.

“If you want to get arrested, go ahead,” Kaiba said. “If not….”

“If not, what?”

“You’ve always believed in luck, haven’t you? Consider this fortuitous.”

Jounouchi tried to shake his arm away, but Kaiba held firm. Damn, he’d forgotten how strong Kaiba could be when he meant it.

“For who?”

“Me, mostly,” Kaiba said. “But it’s keeping you out of jail.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“You kidnapped someone.”

“It was an accident!”

Kaiba shrugged. “So you say.”

Jounouchi crossed his arms, leaning in toward Kaiba. “All right, I’ll bite. You keep me outta jail, and what do you get?”

“A personal servant.”

“What, you fired your own staff?”

“I couldn’t trust them,” Kaiba said easily.

“That’s… paranoid,” Jounouchi said.

“To each his own.” Kaiba finally let go of him and Jounouchi leaned away.

“So what’s this deal, then?”

“You live here, you work for me, do what I order, and I’ll make sure the police stay off your trail.”

Jounouchi frowned. “See, that’s the kind of deal that just ended in me stealing a kid.”

Kaiba smiled. “I won’t make you do anything illegal. You’re not clever enough.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Jounouchi glared at him. “What about my things?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll have everything taken care of.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Jounouchi muttered. “Why me? Because I’m here?”

“Do you see anyone else here?”

“Ha. Ha.”

Kaiba moved out of the doorway into the hall, never taking his eyes off Jounouchi. “Besides, you’re loyal.”

“Not to you,” Jounouchi said, following Kaiba as he led him upstairs.

“You will be,” Kaiba said. “Who else do you have to be loyal to? By the way, when was the last time you spoke to Yugi?”

Jounouchi dropped his gaze to the floor, watching Kaiba’s steps. Kaiba wasn’t wearing house shoes, or, for that matter, any shoes. Something about that bothered him.

“A while,” he answered, finally. Not talking to Yugi had only been the start of his problems lately. Or maybe it was the inevitable result from them.

“I hear he’s still dueling,” Kaiba said conversationally, as if they were old chums catching up and he hadn’t just blackmailed Jounouchi into staying with him.

“Yeah. He is.”

Kaiba stopped at a door, unlocking it. “This will be your room.” At Jounouchi’s hesitance, he added, “It’s not booby-trapped.”

Jounouchi eyed him, but went ahead inside.

“You should be able to find everything,” Kaiba said. “If you must bother me, knock on that wall. I’ll hear it.”

Jounouchi turned around. “You mean you’re right--?”

The door was already shut.

Jounouchi frowned and headed to the door. Maybe Kaiba was done with him, but he wasn’t done with Kaiba.

The door was locked.

OK. Sure. That’s about par for the course.

The next fifteen minutes were spent investigating his new room, trying every door that wasn’t locked (closet, bathroom, balcony). Not sure what else to do, and since it was already late enough, he undressed and climbed into the ridiculously huge bed.

Just before he fell asleep, he realized the other thing that had been bothering him: no servants, sure, that was a given, he guessed, but Mokuba didn’t seem to be around either. Had the brothers actually fallen out? That seemed weird.

The whole damn situation was weird. But he’d figure it out in the morning. Maybe some sunshine would make everything make more sense.


	2. Chapter 2

Jounouchi woke up to an uncomfortably dark room and the eerie feeling that he was being watched. He knew where he was all right -- not his bed, definitely not his apartment -- and that it had something to do with….

Right. Kaiba.

Jounouchi groaned, bundling himself under the covers again. He could just stay here all day. That would be one way out of this mess. Just stay in bed and be useless until Kaiba had to literally drag him out of the house. He actually laughed at that image, Kaiba in his weird not quite a suit, not quite pajamas and bare feet from the night before, dragging him by his legs down the stairs and out the front doors.

He frowned. Kaiba’s bare feet were bothering him. Granted, he’s pretty sure he’d just tramped through Kaiba’s spotless mansion in his rapidly wearing out sneakers, but he’d just dropped in, more or less. Kaiba lived here.

And Jounouchi knew from experience wood floors were cold as hell this time of year.

There were no clocks in this room and his phone had been nearly dead last night before he’d stolen that car, so that was no help. He reached for where he’d stashed it beneath his pillow, figuring it couldn’t hurt to at least try it.

His phone wasn’t there.

That woke him up.

Jounouchi rolled over, yanking the pillow off the bed. Nothing.

He shook out the cover. He shook out the blankets. He reached back between the bed and the headboard, but he couldn’t even get his fingers between it, let alone a phone.

Sitting up fully, he spotted a lamp beside the bed and switched it on.

A phone was sitting on the table next to the lamp, fully charged, but off.

OK. That was weird.

It looked like his phone, but something wasn’t quite right. It didn’t have the right scratches on the case, or any scratches for that matter.

He turned it on. It powered up with a Kaiba Corp logo and read his fingerprint. He already had a message.

_Now that you’re finally awake, you will join me in the breakfast room. If you’ve stayed in bed so long that I’m not there, eat, then find me in my office on the third floor. We will discuss your new job then._   
_K._

Jounouchi pursed his lips. Well, that’s one way to say hello, he guessed. He might as well answer.

_Thx 4 the **phone emoji** bt whr r my **shirt emoji, pants emojis**?_

The minute hadn’t even changed over before he received a reply:

_Use complete sentences when you text me._

He rolled his eyes.

_OK genius. Where are my clothes???_

_One question mark is sufficient. Investigate._

Jounouchi growled and got out of bed. After stumbling in and out of the bathroom, Jounouchi felt a little more presentable and, more importantly, more awake to deal with Kaiba’s bullshit. His clothes were in the giant closet, as he probably would’ve guessed if he’d put them there himself, and once dressed, he headed down to find whatever the hell a “breakfast room” was.

When he finally found it, Jounouchi also found he was breakfasting alone. His food was sitting out under a silver dome, still piping hot. That was weird. There must be someone else in the mansion he just hadn’t seen yet. The last time he’d been here, there’d been a bevy of staff on hand. And what had Kaiba said last night? He’d fired the staff because he couldn’t trust them.

Jounouchi shuddered. This place was giving him the creeps.

Not knowing where the kitchen was, Jounouchi left his plate there on the table. He kind of hated to do it and make work for whoever did come in and clean up for Kaiba, but he had more pressing problems to deal with. One was whatever this “job” entailed. The other was finding which of the many rooms on the third floor was Kaiba’s office.

He started at the end of the corridor, figuring it’d be just like Kaiba to pick a really odd room as an office, only to find out that the only open door was the one at the top of the stairs. Grumbling, he slouched into the office.

“That took you long enough,” Kaiba said, not looking up from the papers on his desk.

“Well, you could’ve helped.”

“It builds character.”

“You’re a piece of work, you know that?”

Kaiba pointed over to a small table and chair in the far corner of the room. “Your contract is there. Read it, sign it, and return it to me.”

Jounouchi shoved his hands in his pockets. “Look, Kaiba, I’m sure this has been fun for you and all, but I’ve really gotta be getting back to my--”

“No.”

“--place,” Jounouchi finished. “What d’you mean, no?”

“You don’t have a ‘place’ to go back to.”

Jounouchi took a few steps toward Kaiba, his hands curled into fists. “The hell does that mean?”

“It means what it sounds like. God, you’re dense,” Kaiba said, finally looking up at him. “Your apartment’s been leased and everything you own is now in your room below.”

“I didn’t agree to that.”

“It was more efficient than waiting for you to agree,” Kaiba said. “Besides, it’s not like you’re going to say no.”

“I might!”

“That wouldn’t end well for you.” Kaiba returned to his papers. “When you’ve finished signing, I have work for you.”

Back in school, he would’ve just blown Kaiba off and stormed out. Hell, even a few years ago, he probably would’ve just cussed Kaiba out, gathered his things, and left. But not now. He was pissed and that was about to be Kaiba’s problem.

What happened next practically happened in slow motion, Jounouchi’s rage coloring it all.

Two steps and he was beside Kaiba’s desk. One more and he was behind it. Kaiba turned slightly, just enough for Jounouchi to grab him and haul him up to his feet. His fist connected with Kaiba’s cheek before Kaiba had a chance to defend himself, sending him falling back into his chair.

Jounouchi wanted to keep going, to pummel Kaiba into the floor of his own office, then walk out of here without another thought. But Kaiba wasn’t getting up. He was just sitting there, bracing himself on the arms of his chair, and that was taking the fight right out of him.

Jounouchi rubbed his knuckles, noticing the strange cream-like oil on them, absently wondering what the hell it was.

And then the guilt settled in.

Sure, he had a hot temper -- he always had -- but he cooled quickly, too.

He took a step back. “Kaiba, I--”

“Are you finished?” Kaiba asked, still not moving.

Jounouchi swallowed hard. “Are you OK?”

One delicate hand rose up to touch Kaiba’s swelling cheek. “For being punched in the face, perfectly fine.”

“I don’t know what-- I mean, I’m sorry I--”

“No, you’re not,” Kaiba said. “You’re just sorry I haven’t hit you back.”

Jounouchi sucked his teeth. “I am sorry.”

Kaiba finally straightened up, his hand still on his cheek, but his gaze as imperious as ever.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to fix my face,” he said, rising. “Read the contract, sign it. I will see you later.”

Jounouchi reached for him. “Do you know how to treat a--?”

Kaiba laughed. “You’re not the first person to hit me.”

He carefully maneuvered himself between the desk and Jounouchi, then left the room. Kaiba’s absence seemed to suck the energy out of him, and Jounouchi slumped over to the corner chair. He glanced down at the first page of the contract and pushed it off the table.

“Shit.”


	3. Chapter 3

Kaiba didn’t return to the office the entire time Jounouchi was there. In fact, Jounouchi didn’t see Kaiba for most of that day. He wasn’t at lunch -- which was held in a different room than the breakfast _or_ dining room for some inexplicable reason -- nor was he back in his office after lunch. Without any instructions, and still feeling guilty as hell, Jounouchi went back to his room to figure out where all his stuff went.

Another hour spent napping later, Jounouchi went exploring again. This time, he did find Kaiba in his office, in nearly the same position he’d found him earlier.

“I, uh, signed this,” Jounouchi said, holding up the contract.

“As expected.”

Jounouchi shut the door a little harder than necessary. “Do you _have_ to be a dick, or is it accidental?”

“Do you have to be abusive, or is that just learned behavior?” Kaiba asked, looking up from his paperwork.

Jounouchi frowned. “That's not cool, Kaiba.”

Kaiba shrugged. “You learned from your father, I learned from mine.” He turned back to his work. “Just leave it on the desk.”

“Weren’t we supposed to discuss something?” Jounouchi asked. “Like, what the hell I’m doing here or what kinds of ‘jobs’ you need? Your contract wasn’t very specific.”

“It covered what I needed.”

“And me?”

Kaiba picked up the contract, briefly checked that it was complete, and put it away in a locking drawer. He motioned for Jounouchi to sit across from him and began moving the rest of his papers around.

This close, Jounouchi could see Kaiba’s face. The lights in the office were a muted blue, which gave Kaiba’s naturally pallid face a strange tinge. It wasn’t until Jounouchi looked a little closer that he realized just why. Kaiba was wearing a layer of makeup, not just on his half-swollen cheek, but all over his face. Maybe he’d needed to balance it out after Jounouchi slugged him. Or maybe he always did it.

Back in school, he and Honda would’ve joked about Kaiba needing the makeup to hide the fact that he was actually a robot. Now, Jounouchi didn’t know what to make of it. Between that, the empty house, and the strange presence of *someone else* around the mansion, it deeply unsettled him.

“Well?” Kaiba asked.

Jounouchi blinked. “What?”

Kaiba sighed. “I didn’t think you were listening.”

“Sorry.”

“You’ll learn,” Kaiba said. “What do you know about Kaiba Corp in the last few years?”

Jounouchi tried to regain his balance. “Nothing more than what’s in the papers. Mokuba’s running the U. S. branch, right?”

“He is.”

“And you’re still running this one?”

“I am. Mostly.”

Jounouchi’s eyes wandered. “What exactly am I supposed to know besides that?”

“Do you remember what happened after graduation?”

“The one you didn’t go to? Yeah. Mokuba said you went searching for Atem through the dimensions.” Jounouchi frowned. “Why?”

Kaiba pressed a button below his desk and a panel in the wall opened. Another Kaiba stood there, looking just as ageless as ever.

Jounouchi edged back in his chair. “OK. What is that?”

“Me. An approximation. I had to retire him three years ago. He looks too young.”

Jounouchi angled himself so he could keep both Kaibas in his sight. “So… That thing’s you. And you’re you. Then who’s running Kaiba Corp again?”

“Another me, a newer, older-looking model,” Kaiba said, as if that was a perfectly reasonable sentence to be saying. “Mokuba made the very first one, which I redid to produce this one. It’s a ruse that’s served me quite well so far.”

“OK.” Jounouchi was getting more weirded out by the minute. “So, if you’ve got all these copies of you running around, why do you need me, again?”

“I’m… forgetting things,” Kaiba said, his gaze on his double. “I wasn’t well when I returned from the Pharaoh’s dimension. The living can’t survive among the dead. It’s taken me years to recover even to this.”

Kaiba went quiet, and for a long minute, Jounouchi wondered whether Kaiba still remembered he was in the room. He just kept staring at his double. Finally, Kaiba spoke, his voice soft:

“I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be alive.”

“And Mokuba can’t do this, because?” Jounouchi asked.

“We’re not speaking right now.”

Well, *that* was a new development.

“So what do I have to do?”

Kaiba finally looked at him. “Stay here. Keep me company. Remind me what life feels like.”

Jounouchi swallowed thickly. “Can’t you find someone more qualified? I mean, not for nothing, but, like I said, we’re not friends.”

“I know. But how many friends do you have left?”

Cold. As. Ice.

Jounouchi opened his mouth to reply, but Kaiba blinked and the strange mood was over. “I have work to finish. You may go. I will see you at dinner.”

That sounded perfectly fine with him. Jounouchi walked stiffly by the lifelike robot and left Kaiba alone with himself.

Jounouchi actually made it about three feet from the office before bursting into a sprint. He had to get the hell out of here. Or at least talk to somebody normal.


	4. Chapter 4

There was only one phone number Jounouchi didn’t recognize in his new phone, but he knew who it had to be.

“M.”

Mokuba.

For the last thirty minutes, Jounouchi had been debating calling Yugi. He’d probably have great advice on how to handle a half-dead Kaiba. Well, better advice than anything Jounouchi was coming up with. But he kept looking at that one contact.

Kaiba said they weren’t speaking, and that really didn’t sit right with Jounouchi. If there was one thing Jounouchi knew about the Kaiba brothers, it was that they were inseparable. At least, they had been once. Even if the older Kaiba hadn’t always been the best brother, Mokuba had been devoted to him. Poor kid.

Without knowing what he was going to say, he called the number listed.

The phone rang only once.

“Kaiba,” a surprisingly deep voice answered.

Jounouchi jumped and stared at the phone. Of course. Mokuba had grown up and gotten older, just like they all had.

“Who is this?” the voice repeated.

“Mokuba?” Jounouchi asked.

“You called me,” he said.

And there’s the Kaiba in him.

“It’s, ah, it’s Jounouchi. Remember me?”

Mokuba cleared his throat and when he spoke next, his voice sounded clearer, even if it wasn’t much more jovial.

“Jounouchi. Hi. How’d you get my number?”

“Uh, that’s kind of a long story.”

“Do you know what time it is here?”

“Yeah, it’s….” Jounouchi trailed off. “Right. You’re in America. Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. I wasn’t asleep anyway,” Mokuba said, chuckling. “Did Yugi give you my number?”

“Ah, no. Your brother put it in my phone.”

Silence met him.

“Mokuba?”

“Tell my brother if this is another one of his gimmicks to get me back, I’m not interested.”

“Hey, wait, no! I.” Jounouchi sighed. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on between you two, and I don’t really want to get involved. I just want to know what happened.”

“You just said you didn’t want to get involved.”

“Yeah, between you two! What I want to know is why Kaiba’s got a couple of robo-hims running around and why nobody else is here, and maybe while you’re at it, you can tell me why he’s talking about needing to be reminded what it’s like being alive?”

Mokuba sighed loudly, but didn’t otherwise respond. Jounouchi let the silence drag on for about half a minute.

“Mokuba?”

“Yeah, it’s…. You swear you’re not helping him? I mean, to get me back home?”

“I promise.”

“OK. It took a while for Seto to come back from the other dimension. It wasn’t the first time I’ve had to basically run Kaiba Corp myself, so I did. When he finally returned, he wanted to take control of it again like it was nothing. I told him he wasn’t fit to do it anymore. He was too obsessed. We fought, I left, that’s it.”

Jounouchi frowned. “OK, that explains maybe one of my questions.”

“According to him, he’d only been in the other dimension two weeks,” Mokuba said. “Jounouchi, he was gone three and a half years.”

“I never heard about that.”

“Well, no. You wouldn’t have. We kept it pretty hushed. But I was only thirteen when he left, and I had to run the whole company and keep his disappearance a secret for almost four years. People change. I did. He was still the same.” Mokuba huffed. “At some point, I just stopped missing him so much.”

“Ouch.”

Mokuba laughed bitterly. “Yeah. I made the ‘robo-him’ as you put it, so he’d at least appear to be around. What he’s been doing with them now, I don’t know. And I don’t really care.”

“Gotcha,” Jounouchi said.

“If he needs to feel alive now, that’s his problem. He’s the one who spent his time chasing after a dead man.”

Jounouchi whistled low. “What do you think I should--?”

“Honestly, Jounouchi? I don’t care,” Mokuba said. “It’s almost two in the morning, my brother’s a piece of work, and unless he’s got you physically trapped there, I say just walk out. Don’t let him ruin your life.”

“Thanks for this advice.”

“Good luck.”

Jounouchi started to say goodbye, but Mokuba had already hung up. Well, that had both gotten him nowhere and given him way more detail in to the Kaiba brothers than he’d ever wanted to have.


	5. Chapter 5

_Don’t call again._

Jounouchi woke up from a surprise nap to find the message waiting for him on his phone. He double checked the number: Kaiba senior. Damn. Was he monitoring Jounouchi’s phone, too? Or was his room bugged? Neither of those options were particularly palatable, but he wouldn’t put either of them past Kaiba.

Jounouchi was about to toss the phone back on the bed when it vibrated with another message.

_Dining room. Ten minutes._

Jounouchi rolled his eyes and texted back:

_Yes, your majesty._

_Cute doesn’t suit you._

“Fucking rude,” Jounouchi said aloud.

Still, ten minutes later, he was down in the dining room -- the room he figured they should’ve been eating in this whole time -- as ordered. A place was already set for him at one end of the long dark wood table, food under the familiar silver dome. Kaiba was already seated at the other end.

“I don’t mean to, uh, harsh what you’ve got going on,” Jounouchi said. “But isn’t this a little… far?”

“What do you mean?” Kaiba asked, cocking his head slightly.

Jounouchi gestured at the table. “I mean, we’re the only ones here, right?”

“I thought you would appreciate some distance from me,” Kaiba said.

“That’s….” Jounouchi didn’t know how to finish that, so he just took his seat and uncovered his food. It smelled delicious He hadn’t had three solid meals in a while now, at least, not in a row.

Dinner was uncomfortably silent. Jounouchi kept stealing glances at Kaiba, who was mostly rearranging a portion easily half of what Jounouchi had been served.

“Do you ever eat?” Jounouchi asked, before he knew he shouldn’t have.

Kaiba’s gaze snapped up to meet his. “I dislike being watched.”

“Must make dinner parties fun.”

Kaiba’s lip twitched up. “Now you know why I live in an empty house.”

Jounouchi stuffed his mouth with food to avoid saying something else. “You didn’t need to bug the phone,” he muttered.

“Mokuba emailed.”

Jounouchi nearly choked at that. “What’d he say?”

“He wished whatever, quote, ‘weird thing,’ unquote, we have going on, that’d we’d leave him out of it.” This time, Kaiba actually finished his smirk. “Whatever did you tell him?”

“Nothing,” Jounouchi said. “But hey, at least he contacted you.”

“We’re in contact every day, for business,” Kaiba said. “We’re just not speaking.”

“You two are weird.”

“And how’s your sister?”

Jounouchi bit his lip. He hadn’t actually spoken with Shizuka in a long time. Six months, at least. He shook his head. “We’re not ‘not speaking’, we just haven’t caught up lately.”

“Siblings can be like that.”

Jounouchi slammed his hand down on the table. “Look, I don’t know what your thing is with your brother besides what he told me and, honestly, that was way more info than I needed. But don’t think our shit’s the same.”

Kaiba arched an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Jounouchi sat back down. After another awkward silence, he said, “What’s our deal, though?”

Kaiba huffed, the exact same sound Mokuba had made. “I’m proving that I’m no longer obsessed with Yugi. Or the Pharaoh.”

“By, what? Becoming obsessed with me?”

"Don't flatter yourself."

"Well!"

“You just happened to be conveniently available.” Kaiba sipped his water. “Call it ‘fate’. You used to believe in that, didn’t you?”

“Yugi was more into fate than I was.”

“Ah, yes. Luck was more your gamble.”

“Yeah,” Jounouchi said. “And, clearly, my luck hasn’t changed.”

“That’s the problem with depending on luck,” Kaiba said. “You can keep losing for a long time.”

Jounouchi sighed. “Do you--? I mean, doesn’t it get tiring?”

Kaiba blinked. “What?”

“This?” Jounouchi gestured between them. “I mean, we haven’t seen each other in years and the first thing we do is fight. The _only_ thing we do is fight. Doesn’t that get old?”

Kaiba pressed his lips together. “Do you have other suggestions?”

“No?”

“A lot of help you are, then.”

“I just mean--”

“I know what you mean,” Kaiba said. “It’s something to do, isn’t it?”

“Sure.” Jounouchi finally looked directly at Kaiba. He looked worn, even with the makeup. Jounouchi stood and moved down the table, not all the way, just halfway. Kaiba stared at him for a moment, then mirrored him, sitting opposite Jounouchi.

“Is that better?”

“Well, I mean, I can see you better from here.”

“At least you can’t punch me from there,” Kaiba said. “Unless you’re in the habit of leaping tables.”

“Look, I’m sorry,” Jounouchi said. “You really know how to get me angry, alright?”

“So, your violence is my fault?”

“You’re the one blackmailing me into staying here.”

Kaiba nodded. “I suppose that’s fair.”

Jounouchi smiled. “See, look at this. We’re having a civil conversation.”

“I know it’s a struggle for you,” Kaiba said. “But do try to endure.”

His smile dropped. “You’re kind of a dick, you know that?”

“I’ve been told.” Kaiba glanced at their abandoned plates. “Do you drink?”

Jounouchi shook his head at the abrupt shift. “What? I mean, not much, but--”

“Good. I can’t convince the robots to drink with me.”

“Was that…” Jounouchi said. “Was that a joke?”

“I’m rusty.”

“So are your robots.”

Kaiba closed his eyes. “I’m regretting this already.”

Jounouchi grinned. “C’mon, Kaiba. What do you do all day in this place? All alone, that’s gotta get boring.”

“Work. Sleep. Occasionally I go up to the roof and stare at the stars.”

“Really?”

“I’ve seen more moonlight than sunlight in the past few years.”

“That’s kinda sad.”

Kaiba shrugged. “Each his own.”

Jounouchi stood. “Come on. Show me the roof. It’s dark enough.”

A few minutes later, the two of them were lying on the roof, staring at the stars that were still visible with the light pollution from the city proper. They could reach each other if they stretched, but they probably wouldn’t.

“How did you do it?” Kaiba asked, breaking the silence.

“Do what?”

“Break from Yugi.”

Jounouchi frowned. “We didn’t really break. Just, you know, he went more into dueling and I couldn’t make a living at it. That’s all. But I wasn’t obsessed with him.”

“It was never Yugi, not really,” Kaiba said.

“What I never understood is why you hated me so much,” Jounouchi said. “I mean, I hated you because you were an ass who tried to kill me.”

“I suppose because you were so close to Yugi. Hate by association.”

“Rude.”

“Besides, I only tried to kill you once.”

“Are you counting Death-T as one whole time, or are you ignoring the time when I was handcuffed to a chainsaw murderer?”

“Yes.”

Jounouchi glared at him. “God, you’re a dick.”

Kaiba laughed, actually heartily. “I’ve needed someone to battle my whole life,” he said. “I can’t fight with Mokuba. I can’t hate him. My father’s dead, so there’s no point in hating him. It wasn’t hatred that fed my duels with the Pharaoh.”

“But you’re fine hating me?” Jounouchi asked. “Wow, I see how it is.”

“Hate is exhausting.”

“That’s… pretty big of you to say.”

“I contain multitudes.”

Jounouchi shook his head, but smiled up at the night sky. The city was beginning to dim, and the stars were becoming brighter.

“Why did you kidnap that baby?” Kaiba asked.

“OK, that was an accident. I was supposed to just take the car with some cash in it to pay off a debt.”

“Yours or someone else’s?”

“The guy the car belonged to. Why’s not important.”

“And you didn’t check for passengers.”

Jounouchi rolled over to face Kaiba. “Look, how many cars have you been in with babies in them?”

Kaiba laughed. “Not nearly as many as you, obviously.”

“Fuck off.” Jounouchi flopped over on his back again. “So, why did you help me? Aside from the blackmail and needing company or whatever.”

“It’s not the first time I’ve saved your life, you know,” Kaiba said, looking at Jounouchi.

“Remind me to thank you some time.”

Kaiba was quiet, so Jounouchi looked back at him.

“You could thank me now,” Kaiba said.

“If you kiss me, I’ll slug you.”

“You’ve already hit me once,” Kaiba said. “I should get something for it.”

They stared at each other for a minute, Jounouchi taking in Kaiba’s face from this close.

“What’s with the makeup?”

“I only wear it when someone’s around me,” Kaiba said. “I look old.”

“We’re getting old.”

Kaiba snorted. “OK, then. I feel old. Besides, I got punched this morning.”

“Look, I’m sorry, alright?!”

Kaiba smirked. “That’s almost good enough.”

“You, I oughta--”

“Don’t you get tired of fighting?” Kaiba asked.

Jounouchi instantly deflated. “Yeah.” He laid back down. “You know, Kaiba? Life kinda sucks.”

“Sucks less with money.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“No,” Kaiba agreed. “But you will.”

“What are you gonna be, my sugar daddy?”

“Oh god.”

Jounouchi laughed, a sharp, barking sound.

“Anyway,” Kaiba said, a little louder than necessary. “I’ve heard life sucks less with company.”

“Even less with friends,” Jounouchi said.

“I wouldn’t know.”

“You will.”

Their eyes met.

“Was that weird?” Jounouchi asked.

“A little,” Kaiba said.

“Let’s not do that again.”

“Agreed.”

Kaiba looked back to the sky, so Jounouchi did the same. This was probably one of the strangest days he’d ever had. He didn’t know what was coming out of this, if anything, but, in all the directions his life could have drifted in, this one didn’t seem too bad. A decent start, anyway, for whatever lay ahead.


End file.
